Prius PHV - Production battery cells

That 150A fusing of hp doesn't look right at all, are we sure that is in the path? Normally things are fused for safety, software sets the physical amount of power coming in when their is not a problem with the electronic parts.

This confirms the rumor that toyota did not think the panasonic cells in the demo vehicles were good enough. Better lithium technology was one of the main reasons for sanyo's acquisition.

It is doubtful. I haven't seen a press release for energi battery supplier, but they use JCI-saft and LG Chem for there current lithium batteries. They had problems getting batteries from pev post sanyo acquisition. That said they can switch suppiers if one leap frogs ahead.

What are the draw backs? Lower parts count should make up for most of them, unless there is not enough volume.

 

Previously, I thought the two EPA stickers specifications were MPGe and AER. I didn't realize the EPA sticker includes kWh/mi and I've never seen Rcda on an EPA sticker. I'll be very interested to see if the Prius Plug-in EPA sticker has Rcda or AER on it.

 

Much lower voltage in a given chemistry will also decrease the energy density.

 

It is curious, because also shown is a fuse with unknown rating in the service plug. Hopefully an intrepid early adopter will pull the lid off the battery case and give us all a full rundown.

 

I agree with andi1111's reply, these fuses are made to withstand more amps for short bursts (10 seconds) that they are rated to.

Wayne Brown has a photo of his Gen2 HV Batt Fuse.



Although it is rated at 125A, he has recorded instantaneous current of up to -194.5A.



Vincent

 

You don't really need all those pictures

125A fuse is proper sizing for the 25KW Gen II. Proper sizing for the phv if it allows for 38KW continuous would be 183A, but those are not common, so 200A should be used if troyota does not have a special size made. Sure some bozo in a stereo shop may put in a 150A for such a load, but I would expect toyota to be more professional. The fuse should be there to blow if something is wrong not under normal operation. Accelerating to 60mph @38kw will take much longer than 10 seconds.

 

You don't need 38kW continuous.

To maintain 62mph (100km/h) on a highway, a car only needs aprox. 17kW. See the attached image.
Where you do need 38kW is when you're accelerating hard, but still you won't need 38kW from 0mph. At 0mpg you need the torque, not power. You need 38kW at 25+mph. But the acceleration from 25mph to 62mph takes less than 10 seconds, so the Prius' fuse is plenty.

I also attached a picture of Vectrix' acceleration from 0. Maximum speed is governed by the electronics and is set to 62mph.
Vectrix has 125A fuse and the red line represents the time when the current is higher than the fuse rating. As you can see, the 125+ amps are not drawn from 0mph, but starts at aprox. 25mph. After Vectrix reaches 62mph, governor drops the current demand, which falls below 125A for maintaining 62mph.

 

Then Toyota is not being professional to use 80A on their PiP prototype.

By your reasoning, all the prototypes should have their fuse blown by now.

You don't need 38 kW continuous to accelerate to 60mph.

Vincent

 

I think Toyota is just being cautious on the prototype. If you were to accelerate too fast on the prototype, the engine will come on to assist. My guess is the production version can allow more continuous current before activating the engine.

The PHV is not tuned for performance, but for longevity of the battery.

Vincent